4.08.2012

quick and irresponsible pickling

I threw a few jars of pickled vegetables together the other day for a cocktail party we were hosting. I did it on a whim, and they are the quickest pickles I've ever made. I say irresponsible, because there was no telling if this was going to be a big waste of produce, not having thought it through much.

Sometimes, I combine parts of several different recipes I find to suit my needs. My greatest need this day was to not have to go back out to the market, so I made do with the vinegars and herbs I already had around the kitchen.

I found this great canning site called Food In Jars, which confirmed what my research had told me. There is a simple ratio that works in almost all cases for quick pickling:

1 cup water to 1 cup vinegar to 1 tbsp. salt

If you understand the nuances of different vinegars, it'll be easy for you to determine what will taste good with what. I don't, much, so I just threw things together willy nilly.

Simple instructions:Bring vinegar and water to boil with salt, stirring to dissolve. Add herbs or other seasonings and pour into jar over raw veggies. Let cool completely on counter, cover and refrigerate. These were ready to eat at the party two days later, and were perfectly pickled. But I had no idea what these combos would taste like when I threw them together. I thought at minimum they would be nice conversation pieces. Turns out they tasted pretty good! Some of the habaneros were too hot to eat, but the vinegar took the heat down enough on most that I enjoyed MANY of them with my cocktails.

Here are my pickles. I am looking forward to giving this a little more thought and making some interesting and tasty summer pickles in a few months.

The peppers look really beautiful in the jar. There is a small business here that buys local produce and pickles it, this doesn't look too hard, maybe I can do it myself. I'm thinking sweet Maui onions, mmm.

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I am an architect, mother, wife and native East Coaster living in San Francisco, and the paper artist behind papel SF. My work can be seen at The Jealous Curator, Colossal, My Modern Metropolis, Apartment Therapy, and the Martha Stewart Living and Williams-Sonoma blogs, among others. Thank you for reading!

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